Sabrina the Teenage Witch (1996 TV series)

The show chronicles the adventures of Sabrina Spellman (played by Melissa Joan Hart), a girl who discovers on her sixteenth birthday that she is a witch. As a novice witch, her spells often go awry. Her aunts Hilda and Zelda Spellman (played by Caroline Rhea and Beth Broderick, respectively, until 2002) counsel her on the proper use of her magic and give her moral advice. Additionally, Hilda and Zelda must take care of Salem Saberhagen (voiced by Nick Bakay), a witch, turned into a cat for trying to take over the world. Sabrina's basic premise and "genial loopiness" earned the show comparisons to the 1960s television series Bewitched.[5][6][7]

The show included contemporary pop cultural references, with Sabrina often saying she liked Britney Spears and No Doubt. It also mentioned human history alongside witches, such as the Salem witch hunt, which Zelda tells Sabrina was not a hunt for real witches. Hilda mentions to Sabrina in Episode 1 that "For two months a bunny ruled all of England" causing the witches council to turn back time, as if to say mortals are ignorant at the most. One episode also suggests that Jerry Springer is a witch when he hosts The Jerry Springer Show in the other realm.

Whereas the comic book series , animated series was set in the fictional Greendale, the TV show was set in the fictional Boston suburb of Westbridge, Massachusetts.

Ultimately, the show covered a span of seven years over seven seasons, though each season was not a year.[lower-alpha 1]

Season 2 (1997–1998)

Libby, Sabrina, Harvey, and Valerie

At the beginning of the second season, Sabrina turns seventeen and learns that she must earn her witch's license or otherwise lose her magic. However, she neglects her aunts' warnings to study for the test to obtain the license and consequently fails it. She then has to attend witch boot camp to earn the chance to take a makeup test. She passes the makeup test, but only receives a learner's permit. Her aunts explain that she will be able to earn her license when she turns eighteen ("when she can pay for the insurance") and that she will be tested throughout the year by a Quizmaster, a witch whose job is to instruct witches earning their licenses. Also introduced during the second season are Sabrina's neurotic friend Valerie and the new school vice principal Mr. Kraft, who finds Sabrina to be very odd and has a crush on Hilda.

• Melissa Joan Hart as Sabrina Spellman, a teenager who discovers on her sixteenth birthday that she is a witch and comes from a long line of witches. As she struggles to master her magic, she often wreaks havoc on those around her. Sabrina moved into her college's dormitories at the beginning of the fifth season and then back into her aunts' house after they left for the Other Realm.
• Caroline Rhea as Hilda Spellman (seasons 1–6, guest season 7), one of the Spellman sisters. Hilda is the less rational and more impulsive one. After giving up violin in the fourth season (she destroyed her violin with dynamite), Hilda purchased a clock shop. Later, after Sabrina moved out of the house, she purchased Bean There, Brewed That, the coffee shop where Sabrina worked, and renamed it Hilda's Coffee House. After her marriage at the end of the sixth season, she moved away with her husband. Hilda returned for the series finale. Her middle name, 'Sucker', is revealed in season 6, although her middle name was Antoinette in season 2. In the last episode of season 3 she states that she is 620 years old however in episode 12 of season 5 Sabrina mentions she's about to celebrate her 650th birthday.
• Beth Broderick as Zelda Spellman (seasons 1–6, guest season 7), Sabrina's aunt and Hilda's older sister. Zelda, a scientist and college professor, is the more rational of the two Spellman sisters and is often the voice of reason when Hilda or Sabrina uses magic irresponsibly. At the end of the sixth season she gives up her maturity in order for Sabrina to be changed back to flesh and blood after being turned into stone when she lost her true loves. Sabrina advises a now child Zelda to leave for the other realm with a newly married Hilda, ensuring her that she is okay to live on her own. Zelda makes an appearance as a candle in the last episode to allow Sabrina's mother to attend Sabrina's wedding. In episode 6 of season 6 Hilda states that Zelda is 658 years old.
• Nick Bakay as Salem Saberhagen, a 500-year-old witch who was sentenced to 100 years as a talking cat because of his plans to take over the world, his sentence later had another 50 years added to it for making a second attempt. Besides Sabrina herself, he is the only character to remain for the entire seven seasons and in fact appears in every single episode.
• Nate Richert as Harvey Kinkle (seasons 1–4 and 6–7, cameos in season 5), Sabrina's boyfriend in the first four seasons. He breaks up with her when he finds out she is a witch. Amanda, Sabrina's cousin, tells him about Sabrina getting married and gives him his soul stone. He arrives at the church on his bike as Sabrina is running out. He is revealed to be her soul mate because their soul stones fit together. In the end, Sabrina leaves Aaron at the altar. Then Harvey and Sabrina run off together after they share a final kiss with Sabrina's favorite band, No Doubt, as the closing theme.
• Jenna Leigh Green as Libby Chessler (seasons 1–3), Sabrina's arch-enemy while at high school. Libby is a spoiled rich girl and is often at the other end of Sabrina's spells as she learns to use them, leading Libby to often call Sabrina a "Freak" or "Freakster". Libby, a cheerleader, is seen to fancy Sabrina's love interest, Harvey, and makes many attempts to ask him out. Libby was sent to boarding school following the end of season 3.
• Michelle Beaudoin as Jenny Kelley (season 1), Sabrina's best friend at high school in the first season. Jenny befriended Sabrina on her first day, and also introduced Sabrina to Harvey. Jenny walked into the closet at the Spellman house and ended up in the Other Realm, where Sabrina and her aunts had to rescue her and make it out as a dream. Jenny is absent from the second season onwards without explanation, and is never mentioned again.
• Paul Feig as Mr. Eugene Pool (season 1), Sabrina's favorite teacher who teaches Biology during the first season. He was sometimes bitter and sarcastic, but always interesting and usually lively. Mr. Pool is not mentioned after season 1.
• Lindsay Sloane as Valerie Birkhead (seasons 2–3), Sabrina's best friend from the second season. She comes across as dim but it becomes apparent that she suffers from self-doubt when Sabrina casts a spell on her that backfired—making her overconfident and careless. She discovers that Sabrina is a witch after Sabrina tells her and Harvey on Friday the 13th. Valerie left to move to Alaska with her parents at the start of season 4.
• Martin Mull as Willard Kraft (seasons 2–4), the vice principal, and later principal, of Westbridge High, Sabrina's high school, and the on/off boyfriend of both Hilda and Zelda. Hilda mentions that herself and Zelda have stopped using magic on Willard, as it is starting to affect his mental state. This is also mentioned at the Jerry Springer Show when Zelda and Willard's ex-wife Lucy (who is a witch, unbeknownst to him) fight for his affections, in an adaption to the lie detector test, they performed the potion detector test showing he had extremely high amounts of magic in his system. The character left the series after season 4.
• Alimi Ballard as Quizmaster (season 2), also known as Albert, is Sabrina's tutor who helps teach her to use her magic properly to acquire her witch's license. As Sabrina gained her license in the first episode of season 3, the character's last appearance was in the last episode of season 2.
• David Lascher as Josh Blackhart (seasons 4–6), Sabrina's handsome co-worker in the Coffee Shop and later, love interest. Josh struggles with his career throughout his first two seasons, until he decides he wants to be a photographer. His relationship with Sabrina is much less consistent than that of her and Harvey. They often have problems to overcome. In the end, he leaves for Prague after Sabrina gives up her love life to save Hilda's life.
• Jon Huertas as Brad Alcerro (season 4), the new kid in school, but used to attend Westbridge High, before Sabrina went to that school. Brad is a witch hunter but doesn't know it. Sabrina tries to stay away from him, but every time she is in school and uses magic, Brad always sees it. In the episode "Dreama, the Mouse", Dreama makes a water fountain appear, Brad sees and says "You know, sometimes I think you're a real witch" and then Dreama turns into a mouse. In that same episode Brad loses his witch hunter gene through an operation. That is when Sabrina realized that he's just a jerk and now she can use magic on him.
• China Shavers as Dreama (season 4), the new kid in school, who causes a lot of trouble because she uses magic. She later turns out to be Sabrina's student. Sabrina has to teach Dreama how to control her magic. At the end of season 4 or the beginning of season 5, she is not mentioned and we don't know if she passed her test to get her witch's license.
• Soleil Moon Frye as Roxie King (seasons 5–7), Sabrina's mortal roommate during her college years and remains a very close friend to her after their graduation. An activist with a very cynical humor, her opinion often clashes with Sabrina's more preppy attitude towards life. Later, both seem to have an effect on each other, as Roxie grows to be much more honest and compassionate, while Sabrina matures and becomes more socially conscious.
• Elisa Donovan as Morgan Cavanaugh (seasons 5–7), Sabrina's third and final housemate, as well as her tutor, during her college years. Morgan is a talented fashion designer and a very good friend, but can also be shallow and even mischievous at times. She's the only known character who dated both of Sabrina's long term romantic interests (Harvey and Josh) as well as expressed interest in her fiancé, Aaron.
• Trevor Lissauer as Miles Goodman (seasons 5–6), Sabrina's housemate during her college years though, unlike Roxie and Morgan, he's never seen nor mentioned after the graduation. Miles is a goodhearted, but nerdy boy obsessed with all things supernatural. Miles often comes close to discovering Sabrina's secret. Throughout the series, he develops a crush on Zelda, and is hinted to harbor similar feelings for Sabrina and Roxie.

The unofficial pilot of the series was the 1996 TV movie Sabrina the Teenage Witch in April.[9] The movie, produced by Viacom and Hartbreak Films and aired on Showtime, starred Melissa Joan Hart as the title character, Sabrina Sawyer, and Charlene Fernetz and Sherry Miller as Sabrina's aunts Zelda and Hilda, respectively. When the television series debuted on ABC later that year, Hart became Sabrina Spellman, and Caroline Rhea and Beth Broderick replaced Fernetz and Miller. In 2000, the show was dropped by ABC and picked up by The WB. When viewership began to wane, the show was canceled after seven seasons.[10]

The television series was produced by Hartbreak Films and Viacom Productions with Finishing the Hat Productions being there for season 1 only. Later it was syndicated through Paramount Domestic Television on reruns. Paramount Network Television absorbed Viacom Productions in 2004, and two years later, Paramount's TV operations were renamed to CBS Paramount Television (now CBS Television Studios), whose name is seen on the season 1, 2, and 3 DVDs. Then in 2007, the syndication arm was renamed from CBS Paramount Domestic Television to CBS Television Distribution, whose name is on the season 4, 5, 6, and 7 DVDs. The official copyright holder for the series (as with all series originally produced by Viacom Productions) is CBS Studios Productions, LLC.

During its four-year run on ABC, Sabrina was the highest-rated series among the network's TGIF line-up. In the 2000–2001 season, the show moved to The WB after a negotiation dispute with ABC. While ABC was willing to renew the show for a fifth season, the network was not willing to pay the reported $1.5 million per episode that Viacom Productions, which produced the show, wanted. The WB then picked up the show for a mere $675,000 per episode, but agreed to commit to 66 episodes.

An animated spin-off of the show, Sabrina: The Animated Series, started airing during the live action show's 4th season. The role of Sabrina was voiced by Hart's younger sister Emily Hart. Melissa Joan Hart voiced both aunts, Hilda and Zelda. This series was followed by a television film, Sabrina: Friends Forever, which in turn was followed by another series titled Sabrina's Secret Life. Neither Emily Hart nor Melissa Joan Hart returned for the television film or the follow up series.

A new animated spin-off was produced by Hub Network in 2013 called Sabrina: Secrets of a Teenage Witch. In this version, Sabrina (voiced by Ashley Tisdale) is a witch princess in training so that she can one day rule the other realm.

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Sabrina, the Teenage Witch

• Sabrina the Teenage Witch at TeenNick's official website
• Sabrina the Teenage Witch at TV Guide
• Sabrina the Teenage Witch on IMDb